Brody's Special Day!

 Every time we have annual passes, I like to take each child, just me and them, on a special day.

Yesterday was Brody's Day!

I didn't tell him we were going.  I spent the morning helping out in his class and then as we got in the car to leave school, I told him we weren't going home....we were going to Disneyland!  He was so excited!

I let him plan the whole day.  First stop, was a photo-op with Halloween Mickey.  Then it was off to his first ride...Buzz Lightyear!

 The highlight and best part of his day was riding Star Tours and then building his own lightsaber!  He chose a double-bladed one and it is as tall as Jeremy! 

We got to ride all the rides he wanted to-eat where and what he wanted to-and even got some time in at CA Adventure!  We stayed until the place shut down at 8:00 PM.  It was such a fun day!  This is our first time doing this, just the two of us.  I'm so glad I got to have this special day with my bear!  To see all the fun pix of our day, click HERE.

Viking Festival 2011

Luke's best viking face

 Vista has a Viking Festival!!  Who Knew?  So, of course, we had to go check it out!

First stop was the Kid Zone.  Where everything was FREE (except the face painting...)!

Free swords and shields!

Free Jumpy Castle

Flower face paint...so pretty.

 They had lots of different games to play...like axe throwing:

 Jeremy took the Viking's head off - RARR!

 So, Lukey gave it a try...

 And took the head off too!  RARRR!

 There was a battle arena set up where the kids could spar with their weapons:

It's a draw!

 The big event was the "fish fling".  Kids lined up to fling a REAL (yuck) fish into a bucket!

 There were all sorts of Viking merchandise booths set up and yummy Viking food.

My 3 Musketeers!

 Cali got herself a fairy house to welcome fairies into our home:

 We got to try homemade Viking bread....mmmmm....

 Then the Vikings came out to battle the regular people:

Brody took him down-RARRRRR!

 And then Brody went after Aunt Meish:

 Gavin got a turn in the arena, but went way easy on the Viking, cause she was a girl!

 This cool Viking took me out while I was enjoying some meatballs...

 Then he went after my kids...luckily he let them use his cool helmet...

 Luke, ready for battle:

 Awww....doesn't Meish look cute?

 Luke either didn't think so, or he's just making sure the helmet works:

We were only there for a couple of hours, but we all had such a fun time.  This will not be our only visit to the Viking Festival.  I think we have started a new family tradition! *Battle Cry*

Movie Review...

Inspiring!

Many of the characters and the story of the families involved were made up for the movie, but this movie is beautiful.  The dolphin is real and plays herself in the movie.  She was found, washed up on the southern shore of Florida at 3 months old, tangled in a crab trap.  This movie will make you cry and make you smile, the whole way through!  I highly recommend it!

And to check out the real Winter and to read all about her real story, click HERE.

Luke is officially a Wolf now!

 Last night was Luke's first Pack Meeting, since becoming a scout back in May.  He finally got to get his Bobcat and put the pin on me!

 He got to move his clothespin up from Bobcat to Wolf...

 And then he was presented with all his patches and belt loops from all the activities he participated in this summer.

 He really enjoys being a cub scout and took his role very seriously in last night's presenting and retiring of the colors.  Way to go Lukey!

Cali's Humerus

Get it?

Yesterday, while Cali was at Activity Days, she was trying to jump over a little pond/stream thing in the Ong's back yard, then slipped on some wet rocks and landed on her elbow.

Jeremy had just showed up to pick her up and take her to soccer when it happened.  It was hurting her really bad and she couldn't move it, so Jeremy brought her straight home.  I was grocery shopping and he had to leave for practice, so she sat, in pain, for about 30 min., before I finally got home.

She was shaking and crying and the whole arm was so swollen.  I knew we would be making a trip to the ER.  But it was Jeremy's turn to go to the ER (I went last time), so I had her elevate it and ice it until after dinner.  Daddy took her to Childrens Hospital and they saw her right away.  After xrays...it was determined that she had a hair line fracture on her humerus.  She got to pick out the color of cast (purple-baby!) and they got home around 12:30 AM.  She didn't sleep too well.  She was in pain and had a hard time getting comfortable, but she got to sleep in this morning and miss school.  She was so excited about that, until she realized that she would also be missing out on piano, clogging, and especially, soccer,for the next 4-6 weeks.  She broke down in tears!  It's been a rough month for my angel.  But she's a trooper!  I hope we can keep her entertained and happy and hope her arm will heal well!  I love my angel!

Family Pix 2011

Check out the sneak peak:
http://juliedawnphoto.blogspot.com/2011/09/mcewan-family-family-photographer.html

Can't wait to see them all!

The Surprise Party that was, but wasn't....missing a guest...but still fun!

SURPRISE!!!!

Happy Birthday Mom and Dad....OK...just Mom.

For the past month, my siblings and I have been planning a surprise 60th birthday party for our parents.  We spent lots of time planning, coordinating and I had to lie to get them to there.  Everything came together and we were ready to party it up on Saturday.....then I talked to my dad.  His job he was working on got held up and there was no way he was going to make it.  I had to tell him about the party....but still, he couldn't leave his job.  So sad.......

But mom was still in the dark, so we still got to surprise her....And we REALLY did!

She had no idea...and she was so happy....especially because her 2 bestest friends were there to celebrate with her (Venice and Pam).  We still had a great time with everyone who came and it was a beautiful day at the beach.

Party People

Hula Girls!

The Perfect Package!

Friends!

5 year olds eating under the table

 Everyone sat around the fire pit and visited with old friends and family.  We even had a soccer game:

Soccer Time!

 The food was DELICIOUS!  We got the meat from L & L Hawaiian BBQ and then we made sides and salads to go with it.  Auntie Julie provided the decor and it looked awesome!

the chocolate/chocolate cake

 We were blessed with  a beautiful sunset:

 And we got to make some s'mores.  I called my dad and we all yelled to him on the phone...and his buddies Duane and Terry got to sing to him.

 I'm so glad we got to spend time with family and friends and that my mom got to have this party!  Here she is with her besties:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM AND DAD.....YOU MAKE 60 LOOK GOOD!

LOVE YOU!